Summer 2001 Issue
Improving Lives on a Global Scale
Even as a child, 59-year-old Donald Hopkins dreamed of fighting diseases. “I wanted to be a doctor for as long as I can remember,” says Hopkins, a renowned public health expert who recently joined the CDC Foundation’s Board of Directors.
Following his life’s passion has proven to be a rewarding path for Hopkins. At The Carter Center in Atlanta, he currently serves as associate executive director, in charge of the Center’s health programs.
In that role, Hopkins is directing a variety of public health efforts, including a worldwide Guinea worm eradication initiative that has reduced Guinea worm disease by 98 percent in Africa and Asia. The disease results from ingesting drinking water contaminated with a small crustacean infected with the Guinea worm larvae. Over time, the larvae mature and migrate toward the infected person’s skin, erupting in an inflamed blister. Thanks to Hopkins’ leadership, Guinea worm disease has plummeted from 3.2 million cases in 1986 to less than 75,000 cases today. It is expected to be the second disease eliminated from the world (smallpox is the first) and the first to be overcome without vaccines and medication.
Hopkins is also overseeing The Carter Center’s efforts to fight river blindness and trachoma in Africa and Latin America. River blindness, which spreads through the bite of a blackfly that breeds in fast-flowing rivers and streams, causes incessant itching, eyesight damage and potential blindness. Trachoma, the world’s leading cause of preventable blindness, is most common in developing countries, particularly where water is scarce. The chronic bacterial infection is spread easily from person to person and can cause inflammation of the eyelids, scarring, painful abrasion of the cornea, and blindness.
Hopkins joined The Carter Center in 1987 as the senior consultant for health for the Center’s Global 2000 program. Before that, he spent 20 years at CDC, first directing the smallpox eradication-measles control program in Sierra Leone, West Africa, and then rising through CDC’s ranks to become assistant director for international health and later deputy director. He served as acting director of CDC in 1985 when the AIDS epidemic was becoming a major public health concern in the United States.
Earlier in his career, Hopkins was assistant professor of tropical public health at the Harvard School of Public Health. Today, he is on a mission to excite a new generation of students about careers in public health. “I never pass up an opportunity to talk to young people,” he says. “I view my life’s work as a privilege - not a sacrifice.” To reach out to students, Hopkins is a visiting lecturer at several universities including Harvard, Emory, Tulane, and State University of New York (Stony Brook).
Board certified in pediatrics and public health, Hopkins has been a member of seven U.S. delegations to the World Health Assembly and has written numerous articles for scientific journals and textbooks. His extensive awards and honors include a MacArthur Foundation Fellowship in 1995 for his leadership in eradicating Guinea worm disease and a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1983 for his book, “Princes and Peasants: Smallpox in History.” Among his many honors, Hopkins was elected as a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1997.
Hopkins attended the Institute of European Studies at the University of Vienna, and received his bachelor of science degree from Morehouse College. He went on to earn his doctor of medicine degree from the University of Chicago; he also holds a master of public health degree from the Harvard School of Public Health.
An avid gardener, opera fan, and stamp collector, Hopkins lives in Chicago with his wife, Ernestine. In describing his new affiliation with the CDC Foundation board of directors, Hopkins notes that he is pleased to contribute to the CDC Foundation’s efforts.
“Preventing and controlling disease are extremely important, both domestically and internationally,” he says. “The CDC Foundation is a critical resource that is helping CDC do even more to promote health and quality of life.”
- Lisa Splitlog